Council on Environmental Quality

(a) In general Title II of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is amended by striking section 209 (42 U.S.C. 4347) and inserting the following: 209. eNEPA technologies (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Authorization data The term authorization data means— (A) any data relevant for a Federal agency— (i) to determine the effect on the environment of an action for which an authorization is required by the Federal agency; and (ii) to determine whether to issue such authorization; and (B) any community input or public comment on such determinations. (2) Data architecture The term data architecture means the design and organization of data systems, including frameworks for data storage, processing, and exchange. (3) Data standards The term data standards means agreed-on specifications for data formats, structures, and definitions to ensure consistency and vendor-neutral interoperability, as established under subsection (b)(1). (4) Minimum functional requirements The term minimum functional requirements means the requirements published under subsection (b)(2)(A)(ii). (b) Establishment of data standards and publication of implementation guidance (1) Establishment of standards (A) In general Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, the Chairman, in consultation with the Chief Information Officers Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and each key permitting agency, shall develop, publish, and iteratively update data standards for the collection and curation of authorization data by Federal agencies, which shall be used— (i) to assist with environmental reviews and authorizations; (ii) to organize, define, and standardize various concepts, formats, and protocols that are included in environmental reviews and authorizations; and (iii) to reduce the need for redundant environmental reviews by creating a shared vocabulary and software systems that will support vendor neutrality, data interoperability, workflow automation, and automatic data exchange between Federal agencies. (B) Inclusions The data standards shall include— (i) a standardized taxonomy that allows Federal agencies to identify and track data types, relationships, and values; and (ii) comprehensive categories for data, such as— (I) projects; (II) processes; (III) environmental documents; (IV) public comments; (V) geospatial information; (VI) public engagement events, as applicable by process or Federal agency; (VII) case events; and (VIII) milestones to ensure clarity and uniformity. (2) Publication of guidance for implementation of data standards and minimum functional requirements (A) Publication Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, the Chairman shall publish guidance for how each Federal agency responsible for environmental reviews or authorizations shall implement the following: (i) The data standards. (ii) The following minimum functional requirements: (I) Application data sharing that enables automated transfer of relevant environmental review and authorization data among Federal agencies. (II) Automated project screening to assist frontline staff with reviewing project sponsor-provided information for completeness and accuracy and determining if a categorical exclusion or other general authorization applies to an action, subject to the condition that such automated project screening may not be used by the Chairman or a Federal agency to unlawfully restrict any activity on Federal land. (III) Public availability of screening criteria and related decision models. (IV) Automated case or project management tools that include a repository of relevant data and metadata that enable advanced tracking, reporting, and optimization to aid workflows. (V) Integrated geographic information system analysis tools that incorporate geospatial data layers and models for each resource analyzed as part of an environmental review or authorization for a given study area. (VI) Document management tools that preserve metadata associated with geospatial analysis, modeling, and other analytic processes conducted during an environmental review or authorization for purposes of supporting future environmental reviews and enabling artificial intelligence-assisted analysis of past decisions. (VII) Automated comment compilation and analysis tools, including services for comment categorization and response that handle the lifecycle of comment submission, analysis, categorization, and response with artificial intelligence support where appropriate. (VIII) Administrative record management tools that maintain portable document formats and data-rich repositories accessible to machine and human users. (IX) Common or interoperable Federal agency services that integrate shared services, shared applications, and common user experiences for Federal agency staff, project sponsors, and the public. (B) Inclusions The guidance published under subparagraph (A) shall include the following: (i) Guidelines for cloud-based storage, data sharing protocols, and application programming interfaces to enable the Chairman to work with Federal agencies to use authorization data— (I) to aid Federal agencies in modernizing their environmental reviews and authorizations; and (II) for iterative development of the authorization portal described in subsection (d)(2)(B). (ii) Provisions that support scalability and adaptability of the minimum requirements to emerging technologies. (c) Agency Implementation (1) Implementation The head of each key permitting agency shall— (A) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 — (i) compare existing Federal agency systems for environmental reviews and authorizations under the authority of the agency with the data standards and minimum functional requirements and report findings from such comparison to the Chairman; (ii) assess whether existing Federal agency technological capabilities are consistent with the data standards and the minimum functional requirements; (iii) submit to the Chairman a report that estimates the completion dates for implementing the data standards and the minimum functional requirements; and (iv) submit to the Chairman an implementation plan that— (I) describes how the Federal agency will implement the data standards and the minimum functional requirements; and (II) describes how, to the extent the Federal agency determines necessary to meet relevant statutory requirements, the Federal agency will adopt or implement the prototype tools tested, designed, and built under subsection (d)(1); and (B) not later than 180 days after that date of enactment, begin implementing the data standards published and the minimum functional requirements. (2) Report Not less frequently than twice each year, the Chief Information Officer of each key permitting agency, in consultation with the CERPO of each key permitting agency, shall submit to the Chairman and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a report on the progress of the key permitting agency towards meeting the requirements described in paragraph (1). (d) Development of eNEPA Technologies (1) Prototype tools (A) In general The Chairman, in consultation with the Administrator of General Services, the Chief Information Officers Council, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and each key permitting agency shall design, test, and build prototype tools for environmental reviews and authorizations that will assist Federal agencies in implementing the minimum functional requirements. (B) Priority The Chairman shall prioritize designing, testing, and building tools under this paragraph that— (i) support authorization case or project management systems that— (I) manage tasks, milestones, and activities associated with environmental reviews and authorizations; and (II) provide Federal agencies more data and insight into such reviews and authorizations; (ii) enable— (I) application submission and tracking portals used by project sponsors, enabling greater transparency; and (II) public comment opportunity tracking portals to increase transparency; (iii) facilitate automated applications, environmental reviews, and authorizations; (iv) allow data exchange between Federal agency systems; and (v) accelerate complex environmental reviews. (2) ePermit unified interagency data system (A) Epermit unified interagency data system To the maximum extent practicable, the Chairman and the head of each key permitting agency shall iteratively develop and maintain a unified interagency data system consisting of interconnected Federal agency systems and shared services for environmental reviews and authorizations. (B) Authorization portal (i) In general The shared services developed and maintained under subparagraph (A) shall include a common interactive, digital, cloud-based authorization portal, which shall— (I) be designed in a manner consistent with— (aa) the recommendations of the Chairman included in the study entitled Council on Environmental Quality Report to Congress on the Potential for Online and Digital Technologies to Address Delays in Reviews and Improve Public Accessibility and Transparency under 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C); and (bb) the minimum functional requirements; (II) serve as a platform for tracking and displaying real-time data on environmental reviews and authorizations made available through application programming interfaces or other reporting mechanisms from Federal agency systems that are compliant with the data standards and data architecture described in this section; (III) be supported by a decentralized, cross-network digital infrastructure software that ensures vendor neutrality and interoperability of data and models across Federal agencies; (IV) include a mechanism for the dissemination of relevant information (such as a notice of intent for public comment, public meetings, project statuses, or a notice of intent to begin an environmental review) to local communities, as applicable; (V) allow a project sponsor to submit all necessary documentation for environmental reviews and authorizations in 1 unified and secure portal; (VI) support interactive, digital, and cloud-based tools enabling project sponsors to edit documents and collaborate with relevant Federal agencies in real time; (VII) support visual features, including video, animation, geographic information system displays, interactive maps, and three-dimensional renderings; (VIII) provide for the exchange of information to and from Federal agency data systems via an application programming interface or another reporting mechanisms; (IX) allow for the submission of geospatial data associated with project location, footprint, and impact; (X) support automatic documentation of submission and process timelines; and (XI) allow certain metrics to be tracked over time, including— (aa) estimates of achieved efficiencies, such as reductions in the time between receipt of applications and final authorization decisions; (bb) comparisons of authorization timelines before and after the implementation of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026; (cc) usage of the authorization portal and other statistics from the Digital Analytics Program of the General Services Administration; (dd) metrics on the number of public comments received, responses provided, and community meetings held; (ee) the number of projects subject to litigation based on authorization deficiencies or inefficiencies; (ff) a list of Federal agencies that are not yet fully compliant with the data standards and the minimum functional requirements, including their progress toward compliance; and (gg) examples or repositories of Federal agency-developed digital workflows enabled by the implementation of this Act, including visualizations of data sharing, authorizations and decision logic, and environmental reviews. (ii) Administrative support The Administrator of General Services shall host the authorization portal as a shared service for Congress, Federal agencies, and the public. (iii) Accessibility The authorization portal shall be accessible to Congress, Federal agencies, and the public, with appropriate safeguards to protect sensitive or classified information and information restricted by user type as appropriate. (iv) Public accessibility To the extent practicable and consistent with other law, the authorization portal shall provide public access to non-sensitive data, including authorization timelines, location, project type, environmental reviews, and mitigation measures. (v) Congressional access and oversight (I) In general The authorization portal shall provide Congress with direct access to aggregated performance data and other analytics to enable real-time oversight of Federal agencies. (II) Artificial intelligence support systems and training materials Congress shall have access to the data, fine-tuning procedures, and prompt configurations specifically created or adapted for artificial intelligence systems used to support environmental review or authorization activities, excluding proprietary or general pre-training materials unrelated to such agency-specific customization. (III) Technical assistance The Chairman shall provide to Congress technical assistance, on request, to ensure effective use of the authorization portal and artificial intelligence systems for oversight purposes. (C) Cybersecurity and compliance considerations The authorization portal shall be designed to promote vendor neutral interoperability, reduce redundancy, and ensure compliance and coordination with other laws, including— (i) section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Privacy Act of 1974); (ii) subchapter II of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code; (iii) the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program established by section 3608 of title 44, United States Code; and (iv) the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security, in any case in which a project is in coordination with a Federal agency with stringent security requirements. (3) Deadlines (A) Shared services pilot Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, the Chairman shall oversee piloting of shared services for environmental reviews and authorizations, including the authorization portal under paragraph (2)(B). (B) Unified system development and implementation To the maximum extent practicable, not later than December 1, 2028, the Chairman shall develop and implement the ePermit unified interagency data system under paragraph (2). (e) Agency and Personnel Performance (1) In general The Chairman shall develop outcome-based performance measures to assess Federal agency performance and Federal agency personnel performance with respect to environmental reviews or other types of authorizations. (2) Requirements In developing the performance measures under paragraph (1), the Chairman shall— (A) coordinate with— (i) the agency CERPO for each key permitting agency; (ii) the Performance Improvement Officer for each key permitting agency; (iii) the Chief Human Capital Officer for each key permitting agency; (iv) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and (B) consider how eNEPA technologies assist in the assessment of— (i) areas of high performance among key permitting agencies for the purpose of identifying successful strategies for meeting performance goals that may be replicated by other key permitting agencies; (ii) areas of poor performance among the department, program, district, field, region, and other subsidiaries of each key permitting agency for the purpose of providing additional support and oversight; (iii) areas of high performance among the department, program, district, field, region, and other subsidiaries of each key permitting agency for the purpose of identifying successful strategies for meeting performance goals that may be replicated within other offices of the Federal agency; and (iv) opportunities for the Chairman to expend funds from the Permitting Improvement Fund established by section 1133(a) of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 to facilitate higher performance of agencies and agency personnel with respect to environmental reviews and authorizations. (f) Authority To enter into contracts Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Chairman may enter into contracts and other arrangements for analyses, services, and products with Federal agencies, private organizations, and businesses, and make such payments as determined necessary by the Chairman to carry out this section. (g) Annual report Not less frequently than annually, the Chairman, in consultation with the Chief Information Officers Council and other relevant Federal agencies, as determined by the Chairman, shall submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report on— (1) the progress of the Chairman in developing the ePermit unified interagency data system under subsection (d)(2); and (2) the performance of each key permitting agency under subsection (e), as compared to the previous year. (h) Savings provisions (1) In general Nothing in this section authorizes the Chairman or a Federal agency to impose additional regulatory processes or requirements beyond those expressly stipulated under this Act or any other law. (2) No restriction To the extent that a data system, technology, or tool developed or incorporated into a unified interagency data system under this section is not limited by project type, the data system, technology, or tool shall not have its use be restricted by project type. 210. Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $5,000,000 for each fiscal year.. (b) Technical amendment Section 202 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4342) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking (hereinafter referred to as the Council).